Apparatus for tempering wire



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B. J. WATSQN.

APPARATUS FOR TEMPERING WIRE. No. 878,746. Patented Feb. 28, 1888..

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NITED STATES.

' NT FFIC EDWIN J. WATSON, OF WORCESTER, MASSAGHUSEITS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,746, dated February 28, 1888.

Application filed December 18, 1886. Serial No. 221,912. (ModcL) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, EDWIN J. WATsoN, of Worcester, in the county of \Vorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatuses for Tempering Wire; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a partof this specification, and in which- Figure 1 represents a top or plan view of so much of an apparatus for tempering wire as is necessary to illustrate the application of my improvements thereto. Fig. 2 is a front side view thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2, taken on line a, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow, same figure; and Fig. 4 is a similar section of the front end of the apparatus, showing a modification, hereinafter more fully described.

My invention relates more particularly to tempering wire, but may be employed in the similar treatment of wire rods and other strands u of metal.

Ihe objeetof my said invention is to provide means whereby the wire or other strands of metal may be prevented from becoming blackenedor otherwise discolored by exposure to the atmosphere between the heating and quench- 1 ing or cooling operations, and comp'rises'imit passes through the tank.

provementsin the means employed for thus protecting said wire or other strands in their passage from one bath to the other in the operations aforesaid, ashtfieinafter'more fully set forth. I

To enable others skilled inthe art to which my invention appertains to-makc and use the same, I will now proceed to describe it more in detail.

In the drawings, the part marked 1) represents a tank in which is contained the bath of molten metal for heating the wire as it is passed through the same. Said tank is provided with a cover, 0, open at the ends at d e, and having cross-ribs f upon its under side for keeping the wire {1 beneath the surface of the metal as In practice said tank b is arranged in a suitable furnace having a cover, and providcdwith suitable iluos or pipes for conducting the gases or vapors generated within said furnace from thesamc. The latter constituting no part of my invention, further description or illustration thereof will be unnecessary to make clear the nature of my improvement, hereinafter described.

My said improvement consists in combining with the front end of the heating-tank b a pipe or tube, k, whose rear end is curved or inclined downward slightly to bring it beneath the surface of the molten metal in said tank b, which is also provided with an outlet and discharge pipe, j, preferably at the bottom and just in front of where it rests on the tank b, as shown in the drawings, and whose outer end is connected with suitable meansfor supplying said pipe k with oil or other cooling-fluid, said fluid .flowing in a continuous stream therein to the ing fluid to pipe 1;,- but I do not limit myself thereto, as a like result may be produced in a similar way without said receptacle h by extending the pipe k forward longer than shown and combining therewiththe supply-pipe i, as well as in various other ways unnecessary to explain. I also reserve the right to make pipe is of such shape as circumstances require, coming within the scope of my invention.

The essential feature of said invention consists in providing said pipe k with the discharge outlct and pipe j, whereby the cont-inuous stream of oil or other coolingfluid before alluded to may be maintained within the pipe, around the wire passing through it as close up as possible to the heating-bath of molten metal, so that as little of said wire as possible may be uncovered in its passage from one bath to the other, thus rendering its protection from exposure to the exterior atmosphere complete, and effectually preventing the oxidation and consequent discoloration thereof.

As is well known, the least exposure of the wire to the exterior atmosphere as. it leaves the heating bath or furnace causes it to at once become black or otherwise discolored from oxidation, even though it be exposed only for an instant, therefore requiring subsequent; treatment to bring it back to its original bright state. This additional cleaning process, it is obvious, is attended with considerable additional troubic and expense, and it is therefore important that it be dispensed with, which result is accomplished by the application of my invention to practice, as has been fully demonstrated in the treatment of many tonsof wire during the past year.

Various ways have been employed for protecting the wire, as aforesaid, and I therefore make no claim thereto, broadly, but limit my I invention to the specific means herein set forth and shown for effecting said result.

I am aware of the United States patent to Charles Dion, No. 192,239, dated June 19, 187 7 in which a continuous tube or pipe is shown extending from the heating-furnace to the cooling-bath of his apparatus for protecting the wire from the exterior atmosphere between said points, and make no claim thereto, the purpose of my invention being to improve upon the specific construction set forth in said patent. By said improvement several important advantages over the above construction are accomplished, one of which is that it admits of the wire being drawn forward through 1 the apparatus 111 a comparatively straight line without any sharp curves or bends, as is nocessitated by the construction shown in the aforesaid Dion patent; the cooling-fluid may be extendedclose up to the heating furnace or bath, and a more compact arrangement of the apparatus may be effected, all of which ad-' vantages will at oncevbe understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art to which this invention relates. r.

I reserve the right to form the receptacle h and outer end of pipe k in one part, or to make said pipe separate from said receptacle, and

insert said outer end in a suitable slot or opening therein, as is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively.

In practice a series of pipes 7c are combined with the receptacle h, the same being arranged side by side for treating several wires at the same time, as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

If desired, my improved apparatus may be combined with'a galvanizing or other coating apparatus, so as to temper and coat the wire by a continuous operation, and instead of combining my improved device for protecting and cooling the wire with a bath of molten metal, as hereinbefore described, it may be combined with the end of a tube arranged in the combustion-chamber of a furnace, in a similar manner to'the tube shown in the Dion patent, without departing from the principle of my invention.

Having described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isi In a wire-tempering apparatus, the improvement consisting of the pipe 7;, having an .outlet and discharge pipe, j, at a convenient point between its extremities, also inclined or curved downward sufficiently at its-rear end to bring the extremity of said end beneath'the surface of the'heating-bath, and its forward end connected with means, substantially as described, for supplying said pipe I; with a continuous stream of oil or other cooling-fluid, said fluid entering at said forward, end where convenient and passing out through the aforesaid discharge outlet and pipe, in combination with the heating-tank and the aforesaid means for supplying the cooling-fluid to pipe is, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. t EDWIN J. WATSON.

Witnesses:

ALBERT A. BARKER, Lucius W. Bmces. 

